I listed it here originally in my list of the best free cross-platform RSS readers (also referred to as feed readers by many) along with alternatives. Cross platform means they work on Windows, Mac and Linux.

2 of the best feed readers are open source software, both of them are based on the Java programming language, that’s why they work on all operating systems.

1 of them is a Firefox extension (add on) and works on all systems as Firefox itself is cross platform

3 of them are web based feed readers. It means they work in your browser like any website.

BlogBridge – Simple, browser-like interface, also open source and quite popular newsreader

Sage – Sage is by now an established Firefox add on for feeds. It’s very simple and easy to use

Feedly – Feedly, a modern web based feed reader with a magazine like display of your feeds. It adapts to your natural reading habits. Originally it required Google Reader, not anymore!

The Old Reader – Clean and simple online tool for subscribing to your favorite feeds that is based on the early versions of Google Reader without the bloat that followed later.

Netvibes – Netvibes is more a web based starpage than a stand alone feed reader but you can use it like one, you can share items too

Thunderbird – The popular mail client by the Mozilla Foundation, the makers of Firefox, can also be used as a feed reader. Reading news like this saves time but can also be distracting.

Are newsreaders, feed readers, Atom and RSS readers the same? Yes and no, I prefer the term RSS reader even though they also support Atom feeds (just another RSS-like format) because there is an RSS Reader software called Feedreader. I do not want you to mix them up.

I did not include Feedreader here as it only works on Windows and Linux while the online version doesn’t work correctly here.

“Newsreader” might refer to the so called Usenet, a part of the Internet that came before the Web and still is used by some people. Usenet newsgroup readers are not the same as RSS newsreaders.

Originally published: September 27th, 2007. Last updated: February 20th, 2015.

Yes. I see you are a dilligent reader. My first draft of this post was half explanation why I changed my mind, but then I thought nobody cares and the target audience are the Google visitors anyways as you all already use RSS readers.

I you followed my last 3 or so “great blogs” posts you might have wondered how I manage to read them all without a feed reader ;-)

So finally I had to change my reading habits. And it’s all your fault! Stop writing so many different great blogs! Get a life! And give me a break! Damn blogging bastards!

RSSOwl is unlikely to be the most popular f/loss rss reader irrespective of stretches of imagination.

I’d suspect liferea would take that title, and if not then it would come second to akregator.

TimMay 21, 2008 at 14:00 ·

Help!

(Heh. I love the dramatic first-timer entry.)

I’ve been wanting to get away from Bloglines for a while now, because the number of feeds I subscribe to and the complexity of my needs is soaring.

However, almost every feature-filled application-based x-platform reader totally screws up content-rich feeds. Take RSSOwl, for example. Half the time, graphics and nice formatting disappear from feeds that look great in Bloglines.

This means I’m finding myself tied to a browser-based reader, when I’m really trying to get away from one. Can you recommend something that’s app based, but offers similar functionality to Bloglines?

I need an RSS reader that can search all the readers out there and locate by region, city, or geographical anything. I can type in keyword + Los Angeles, but that only searches for feeds with “los Angeles” + keyword in them, not RSS feeds from the Los Angeles area. Help!!!!

You say you’d use Google too much, is there a possibility that you use Firefox too much as well? I suspect I am, because my Firefox takes yonks to open. Apart from the usual SEO plug-ins, I depend heavily on it for stocks as well; adding to my preferred theme of mainly black, sometimes redirecting my RSS needs to Google seems like the most logical thing to do, although I am a big fan of Sage.